Watch Tower
by Bolt of Tien Mu
Summary: The boys celebrate New Years and things are said. The tension heats up between Aya and Ken, but nothing is ever settled so easily. Companion fics are Guidepost, Smoke Signals, and Widow's Walk. This can, however, stand on it's own. Rated: PG-13. Shonen ai


Author's Notes: Once again, lets have a big cheer for small-time anime suppliers and my new sets of WK DVDs. Damn straight. Straight? There's nothing like that in here! You heard right. This is a (never terribly) little, shonen romp, featuring the boys of Weiss. Timeline? Um... well, there are (not quite) spoilers for a lot of things, but, since I'm not totally sure when any given event happens, I can't say an exact point. My bad for not having watched all my DVDs yet. Of course, I am missing season two and the OAV, so I have that excuse, too. Take your pick of reasons. In the spirit of Gundam Wing, this is all leading up to a mission in which the boys must temporarily enroll in a boarding school. Of course, because of their ages, it's actually a university and they're divided between two grade levels. As a warning, I make use of Japanese words in this, particularly "sensee." Now, already you should see the problem. My romanizations are based on what I have been taught, which is the more modern tendency to write lengthened 'e' sounds using 'ee' instead of 'ei', though that is the way it's written in hiragana. Apologies in advance for any annoyance this may cause. Wow, that was a long note, since this first section is really only an opening bit.

Warnings: Shonen ai, swearing, angst, periodic bouts of desperate humor

Watch Tower  
A Weiss Kreuz Fic by Kitsuneko

The New Year's season had brought a dash of good luck to the residents of the Koneko. While winter break brought out the schoolgirls in droves, it also tended to up the percentage actually spending money. Moreover, Weiss had not had a mission for two weeks running and their New Year's weekend was still free. To celebrate both the holiday and their unplanned vacation, Omi had thrown himself and the rest of the household into a party-planning panic.

"Okay, we've got all the drinks and snacks we want for New Year's Eve, plus most of the ingredients for brunch the day of. I'll run out to the store tomorrow to pick up the fruit and eggs. Oh, and the ham!" Omi was planning a full, western style brunch for New Year's Day. Of course, there were some small objections, even if Omi had promised to be the one cooking.

"Kiddo, I don't know about you, but I think even _brunch_ is going to be too early for me," Yoji warned, drawing out the English word as long as he could. "I have every intention of getting utterly plastered and I'm dragging the rest of you down with me." Omi was not discouraged.

"That's okay. It can be dinner if we want. It'll be fun, I swear." When faced with the ever genki Omi, no one stood a chance.

"Kudou, you do realize he's underage," Aya questioned, but his tone was quietly resigned; he was only putting up the token resistance required. Yoji rolled his eyes and said nothing, grinning like an idiot.

"You want help with all the cooking?" Ken asked enthusiastically. Omi giggled nervously.

"Eheh, that's okay, Ken-kun. I'm sure I'll be fine." Standing behind Ken, Yoji was making faces and pretending to retch, stopping abruptly when Ken turned around. Ken scowled, knowing Yoji had been up to something, but didn't pursue the subject. His mood was too high to bother. Everyone was in fairly high spirits and even Aya was more personable, joining their conversations, provided someone invited him into it first. Life, for now, was good.

* * *

"Waaa! Minna-san, chotto matte kudasai!" Omi yelped as a _pile_ of customers accosted him, all expecting custom arrangements at the same instant. Yoji chuckled and waded through the girls, fishing Omi out of them somehow.

"Okay, girls, if you want your orders filled, you have to give the chibi a chance. In the mean time, I'll be more than happy to help you," he offered, bowing in an absurdly dramatic gesture. The girls giggled and latched on to him.

"Hey, Yotan, thought you didn't go for the underage ones?" Ken called from across the store, where he was lugging a potted plant from the storage room.

"Oh, the sacrifices I make for others!"

"Your suffering is obvious," Aya added to the banter, quietly tucked away in a corner, misting the plants. The other three offered him a collective smile, instinctively rewarding any effort made by him to be social. It was especially noteworthy, since this was their last day open before closing for the holiday and the desperate fangirls were unusually clingy. Omi was almost certain he had heard someone whispering about trying to camp out there and one girl was currently sitting on their floor, though it was in a secluded area where she was not at risk of being trampled. But even with his newfound cheer, Aya only lasted another half hour before bellowing out his trademark line.

"If you're not buying anything, get out!" The girls whined, but Omi had finished all the orders by then and there was no good reason they could give to remain in the store. Aya brandished a broom at them, beating back the crowd until the shop was empty and he could safely slam shut the security grate.

"Well, that was overwhelming," Omi sighed, leaning back against the counter.

"So, Omitchi, now that the shop is closed, what's the plan for the rest of the day?" Yoji hopped up on the counter next to him, pulling out a cigarette. Aya immediately snatched it away from him, with an irate look.

"Not in the store." Omi ignored the exchange and pulled a list from under the counter.

"Well, I had wanted to go out tonight and buy the last things we need. And I thought, since the shop is closed tomorrow, we could all sleep in, so we'll be able to stay up all the way to midnight." Yoji shook his head sadly.

"You're so organized," he almost whispered, then suddenly perked up and started shouting, "It's a PARTY! Have a little fun!" Omi squeaked and backed away a little. Yoji was too weird sometimes.

"Omi, if you aren't going to let me help you cook, at least let me go to the store for you." Omi looked around the room nervously. Even outside the kitchen, Ken and food were not a good combination.

"I'll go, too." Omi let out a grateful sigh. Aya to the rescue. He would be able to keep Ken's culinary eccentricities in check.

"Thanks, guys. That would be great. Yotan, will you help me set up the decorations?" Yoji sighed, again making his near immeasurable suffering evident, but agreed with a smile. Ken bounced up and grabbed his keys from the hook on the wall.

"Come on, we'll take my bike."

"That makes no sense. Where will we put the groceries, once we buy them?" But Aya's objection was ignored as Ken left the room, leaving him no choice but to follow. Omi beamed at Yoji and pushed away from the counter.

"The decorations are up in my room. Why don't we bring them all down here and then start putting them up?" Yoji didn't bother responding, since this course of action had been settled and Omi was already to the top of the stairs by the time Yoji make it out of the shop.

"Come _on_, Yotan! I want to have everything up before Aya and Ken get back, so they can be surprised!" Omi called to him from upstairs. Yoji grinned and retied his hair in preparation for work. Yeah, life was damn good right now.


End file.
